The entire catalog of AIX Records, including the 5.1 surround mixes, is available for downloading. You can choose to download files from this site or visit our partner site iTrax.com to access our HD digital files.

REVIEWS

Home Entertainment - July/August 2008

Perhaps my favorite thing about this collection of John Gorka numbers is that it perfectly encapsulates everything that AIX Records is about. Simply put, it’s beautifully recorded music, delivered straight to your listening room, without
the extravagant production and ham-fisted processing imposed on modern music by the radio industry. If I had to pick one song at gunpoint that best demonstrates this refreshing approach music delivery, I would have to go with "Lightning’s Blues," a rip-roaring romp that I doubledog dare you to sit through without at least tapping your toes to the beat.

I’ll admit, though, it can be a bit disconcerting at first if you’ve never experienced the way Mark Waldrep records music. When Gorka’s guitar first kicks in, your brain won’t quite know what to do with it. Something doesn’t sound right. It’s not the quacking, overly bright jangle-jungle that MTV Unplugged has us convinced guitars sound like. This—dare I say it—the sound of an actual wooden instrument. Then the vocals kick in and, again, the sound is almost defined more by what’s missing than what’s there at first. Where’s the springy reverb? Where’s the oppressive EQ? This sounds like…a man. Singing. In the room with you. Much like the Addams Family, it’s both creepy and incredibly cool at once. Finally the bass joins in, and instead of some overpowering thing that flaps your gums and slams you into your seat, the low end is more of a viscous fluid that fills the room from the bottom up, clinging to the carpet and serving as the glue that binds the vocals, guitar, mandolin, and piano into one delicious—and disturbingly realistic—whole.

SPECTRAGRAPHS

EXPERTS AGREE

"I worry about sound quality and old ways of the industry. Up-sampled CDs, play-everything consumer machines and lawyers killed the DVDA. Many titles in vaults have sonic losses from compression and sampling that can’t be recovered. Yet, surely, there will be re-issues even though high resolution will not improve them. Some reviewers use analyzers to spot these marketed imposters."

"It's good to know there are still some labels left dedicated to making high quality surround recordings. I applaud you for educating people about what is and isn't HD (analog tape/vinyl being an example that isn't HD)."